O.C. Coptic Christians watch turmoil closely

ANAHEIM – The Rev. Joseph Boules' parish sits along a busy street in Anaheim, but the concern of his Coptic Orthodox Christian parishioners often reaches halfway around the world to Egypt.

Relations between the Muslim majority and the Coptic Christian minority there have been historically tense, and violence between the two groups intensified after the Egyptian uprising.

Boules' concern peaked early Thursday morning, when he heard a Southern California man who identified himself as a Coptic Christian was connected with the creation of a film that ridiculed Islam and sparked violence across the Middle East.

"A good Christian would not do that," Boules said, sitting on a pew in St. Mary and St. Verena along La Palma Avenue. "He may very well turn out to be a Coptic Orthodox person, but I assure you, it would be in name only."

Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Dioceses of Los Angeles – which oversees about 30 churches throughout the area – condemned the killings of the U.S. ambassador and three others in Libya on Tuesday, and said he did not support the views portrayed in the video.

Boules also condemned the video, and said he was concerned that Coptic Orthodox Christians would not only be associated with the hateful video, but would also be placed in danger in Egypt.

CHURCH CONDEMNS VIOLENCE

"This is not our line of teaching at all," Boules said. "We can't control the actions of individuals or anyone who is misguided or has fanatical views. Certainly the church condemns the video. We don't condone this violent extremism at all."

The origins of the film have been clouded from the onset. At first, a man identified as Sam Bacile was said to be the director of the film; that person said he was an Israeli who collected money from Jewish donors. But The Associated Press on Wednesday traced the film back to 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a man from Los Angeles County with a history of financial crimes. Nakoula says he's a Coptic Christian.

"I don't know what the motives of the man were," Boules said. "I don't know why he did what he did. But it is important to remember our Christian faith first before we react."

Christians have faced persecution and violence in Egypt, and parishioners often seek Boules' advice for people looking to leave the region, he said.

On Jan. 1, 2010, in Alexandria, a bomb killed more than 20 Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population in the country. About a week later, thousands of Muslims were reported to have attended Christmas Mass with Christians as an act of solidarity.

But tensions grew after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, when police used force to disperse Coptic demonstrators, and when the Muslim Brotherhood won the majority of parliamentary seats. Violence erupted as recently as last week, when a Muslim man's shirt was damaged in a Christian dry-cleaning business.

GETTING ALONG

But thousands of miles away in Southern California, in a narrow church with two lines of pews surrounded by the icons of saints, Boules said Coptic Christians and Muslims have left behind that hostility.

He estimates there are more than 20,000 Coptic Orthodox Christians in Southern California, and many more have arrived in the U.S. after the Egyptian uprising.

"People are saddened by the injustice that is dealt to the Christians in Egypt," he said, but he describes the relationship between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Orange County as amicable.

The tension has not been carried over, he said.

"I would truly pray that it has not," he said.

Now, Boules said, he is concerned that the video may spark violence against Coptic Christians here.

Police advised to keep a Coptic church in Orange locked in case of retaliation.

"Christians don't do that," he said. "It sounds to me like this person should be sitting in the confession chair, not the director chair."